Trans women’s lives, like those of cisgender women, are still regulated. I was reminded of this while reading Vivek Shraya’s I’m Afraid of Men. At one point she writes, “In the morning, as I get ready for work, I avoid choosing clothes or accessories that will highlight my femininity and draw unwanted attention.” Ah, women’s eternal dilemma. But was this me too? Was this why I had returned the hat back to its shelf?

This past year I have spent a surprising amount of time conversing with my 22 year old self.

I was 22 in 1977. It was a bad time to be trans and a bad time to be me. I was out of university and I knew what was supposed to happen next: a career and a wife. But that idyll seemed very unlikely for me. I was a closeted 6’3″ trans woman who saw no future for herself. In between bouts of excessive drinking, I thought my best chance at life was self employment. Perhaps there I might carve out an independent space so I could breathe a little. It wasn’t a bad idea, but my hopelessness stifled my motivation and I could never turn it into a credible plan. What I did instead was barely survive on a succession of suffocating government jobs.

Clothes reflect power and social structures in society and are not as trivial as they seem. My clothes had given her the opportunity to impose a hierarchy in our relationship, namely, her right to be rude. More

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Ottawa Trans History

The original purpose of this web site was to have a place in which the history of trans people in Ottawa could be told. While I compiled much of the file, I am also very grateful for the contributions many trans people have made to the initial research. They have not only added significantly to the original material, but also ensured its accuracy.

Nonetheless, I am certain this history is incomplete. I still hope that as people become aware of it, they will want to contribute new material that records events of which I was unaware.

Our history is important. It’s a powerful antidote to the attempted erasure of trans lives and it celebrates our achievements.

OTTAWA TRANS LIBRARY

Before the internet, a good trans library was a valuable thing. I still believe in books and so am assembling a collection of historical, important and not-so-important works on trans issues and people.

Alice in Genderland; Changing Sex: Transsexualism, Technology, and the Idea of Gender; Crossdressing with Dignity; The Gendered Self; Miss Vera’s Finishing School for Boys Who Want to be Girls; My Husband Betty; My Husband Wears My Clothes; The Riddle of Gender; She’s Not the Man I Married; She’s Not There: a Life in Two Genders; Transgender Explained: For Those Who Are Not; Unzipping Gender: Sex, Cross-dressing and Culture.

Audio-Visual

The Adventures of Captain Cross Dresser; The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert; Beautiful Daughters; The Dress Code; Ma Vie en Rose (My Life in Pink); Kinky Boots; Normal; Talk Ottawa: Life as a Transgender;TransAmerica.